Venkataraman was the original name of the person who later came to be known as Bhagwan Ramana Maharshi. He was born on 30 December,1879 at Tirchuli village about 50 km south of Madurai in Tamilnadu, India.
One day, about the middle of the year 1896, he was sitting up alone on the first level of his uncle's home. A sudden fear of death struck him, although in good health. He felt that he was going to die. He immediately laid down with his limbs stretched out holding them stiff as though death had set in. He withheld his breath and kept his lips tightly closed so that to all outward appearances, his body resembled a corpse. Now, what would happen? His mind reeled under the following thoughts.
'Well, this body is now dead. It will be carried to the burning ground and there, burnt and reduced to ashes. With the death of this body, am I dead? Is the body, I? This body is silent and inert. Nevertheless, I feel the full force of my personality and even the voice of 'I' within me, apart from it. So, I am the Spirit transcending the body. The body dies, but the Spirit cannot be touched by death. That means 'I'm the deathless Spirit.'
The above incident led him to the realization of Self or Atma (Sanskrit word for 'Soul'), and that is actually the property of God. We can call this Atma as the God's particle.
Thereafter, he left his home without informing anyone to seek the graces of God, and set out as a saint for Thiruvannamalai a small town situated 196 km from Chennai city, Tamilnadu. He stayed there through his life and attained the heavenly abode on 14 December,1950.
A shooting star was noticed moving slowly across the sky and descending behind the peak of the holy mountain of Thiruvannamalai, when he breathed his last. This is a clear sign of not only his devotion to God, but also his Oneness with Him.
Maharshi called the holy mountain Arunachala as the spiritual heart of the Universe. Aruna meaning reddish-brown, does not signify mere fire that gives off heat. Rather, it is Jnanagni (Sanskrit equivalent for "Fire of Wisdom"), which is neither hot nor cold. Achala denotes a hill. So, Arunachala is a Hill of Wisdom.
The golden words of Sri Ramana Maharshi about life went like this.
If you make your outlook that of wisdom, you will find the world of God.
